Drug companies Pfizer and Flynn Pharma are facing claims
that they breached competition law by abusing their market dominance to charge
“excessive and unfair” prices for an anti-epilepsy drug. The Competition and
Markets Authority (CMA)says that for years industry giant Pfizer, which is
listed in the US, and Flynn, a Stevenage-based company, between them sold the
drug at a price up to 27 times higher than it had been previously priced. Before
September 2012, Pfizer manufactured and sold phenytoin sodium capsules to UK
wholesalers and pharmacies under the brand name Epanutin. Pfizer then sold the
UK distribution rights for Epanutin to Flynn, which 'de-branded' the drug and
started selling its version in September 2012. Pfizer continued to manufacture
the drug, which it sold to Flynn at prices the CMA says were “significantly
higher” than those at which it had previously sold Epanutin. If the companies
are found to have breached the law, the CMA has the power to fine then up to
10pc of their global annual turnover - last year Pfizer had revenue of almost
$50bn. Before Flynn bought the rights for Epanutin, the NHS spent about £2.3m
on phenytoin sodium capsules a year, according to the CMA. After the deal this
spend rose to just over £50m in 2013 and more than £40m in 2014. TELEGRAPH

US adopts rule to
reveal CEO-to-staff pay ratio

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the US market
regulator, voted by 3-2 yesterday to adopt a rule that requires listed
companies to disclose the pay ratio between chief executives and their median
employee. The rule is supported by unions and Democrats worried about
persistent income inequality, but opposed by companies that call it a costly
and time-consuming gimmick. John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable,
a lobby group of chief executives, said: “It’s costly, meaningless, and all it
does is create compliance risks for business and talking points for people
trying to score political points.” Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO (the
US’s biggest union federation), commented that complaints about the difficulty
of implementing the rule were nonsense: “Employers should already have this
information on the books. Dodd-Frank asks companies to do some simple calculations,
not put a man on Mars.” He noted that Walmart’s chief executive Doug McMillon
earned $19.4m in 2014 — although that included performance-related stock grants
not yet vested — while the retailers’ typical employee starts on $9 an hour. “American
consumers and workers . . . have a right to accountability and transparency
when it comes to the pay practices of corporations,” Mr Trumka wrote. “Wage and
income inequality has spiralled out of control.” US presidential candidates
from both parties have pointed to inequality and middle-class wage stagnation
as one of the most pressing issues in the 2016 election. FINANCIAL TIMES

Sixth form colleges
left on starvation rations by government cuts

Almost four out of every 10 sixth form principals say it is
likely their college will cease to be a going concern within five years, while
seven out of 10 say they cannot provide students with a quality education with
the money they are set to receive next year. The research was published by the
Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), which represents England’s 93 sixth
form colleges. In contrast with schools, where the government has largely
protected budgets, sixth form colleges have been subjected to three separate
funding cuts since 2011, with the threat of more to come as the treasury seeks
further savings. As a result students are being taught in larger classes,
courses are being dropped and enrichment activities slashed. Steve Oxlade,
principal of Reigate college and executive principal at Coulsdon college, said:
“The situation is as dire as you can imagine. My guess is that by 2020 no more
than 10 sixth form colleges will be financially viable unless they take drastic
action now.” There were more than 120 sixth form colleges in 1992. Seventy-two
per cent of sixth form principals say they have had to drop courses, with 39%
forced to do so in modern foreign languages. A-levels in German, Spanish and
French have been the main casualties. Almost a quarter (24%) have cut STEM
subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths), regarded by the
government as vital in ensuring that young people are equipped for a modern
workforce. In addition, 76% of colleges say they have cut extracurricular
sport, music, drama and educational visits, and 81% have larger classes as a
result of recent cuts. At Reigate college, Oxlade has seen his annual budget
shrink from £12.1m in 2012 to £9.7m in 2016; as a result, students now have
less teaching time, teacher workload has gone up 18%, and 15% of staff have
gone part-time. GUARDIAN

Pizza Express: angry staff
launch protests over slice taken off their hard-earned tips

Pizza Express keeps, as an admin fee, 8p out of every £1
paid when tips are given by card. The chain, which has 430 branches around the
UK and is particularly popular with families, makes an estimated £1m a year
from the practice, according to the union Unite. Protests are being organised
by local branches of Unite and the first will take place at the British Museum
branch of Pizza Express in London. The union has also written to the restaurant
chain’s CEO, Richard Hodgson. Unite began the campaign following a survey of
its Pizza Express members after the chain was sold to a Chinese private equity
firm, Hony Capital, last year. One of the top issues was the 8% deduction from
their tips. Pizza Express joins restaurant chains Ask and Zizzi in siphoning
off 8% of the tips paid by card, but other chains deduct even more. Café Rouge,
Bella Italia and Belgo deduct 10%, as do Strada and Giraffe, which is owned by
Tesco. But other restaurant groups do not deduct an admin fee from tips.
Wagamama, Pizza Hut and TGI Friday all take nothing. The Restaurant Group,
which owns Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquitos and Garfunkels, used to charge 10%
but dropped this policy several years ago. A spokesperson for Pizza Express
said that its admin charge was to cover the cost of running a “tronc” – a
standard pay arrangement used to distribute tips among staff. Conservative MP
Andrew Percy, who has called for a change in the law that would give restaurant
staff more control over tips, said he plans to raise the issue in parliament
after the summer recess. GUARDIAN

Cameron wants peerage
for banker who gave the Tories £2.5m and offered week on his island for
party's auction

David Cameron risks a major cronyism row with plans to send
one of the Tory party’s biggest donors to the House of Lords. James Lupton, who
has donated £2.5million to the Conservatives, is in line for a peerage in the
controversial dissolution honours list. The investment banker is joint
treasurer of the party and was in charge of raising money for its election war
chest. He also reportedly hosted a table at the Tories’ infamous Black and
White fundraising ball in February, donating a week-long trip for 24 people to
his £56million La Fortaleza estate on the Bay of Pollenca in Majorca. The
estate has a 17th-century fortress, five more houses, two swimming pools and a
helipad. The holiday was the most expensive lot at the fundraising auction and
went for £220,000. Mr Lupton is among around 40 party supporters expected to
further bloat the ranks of the upper chamber and take its membership over 800
when the honours are announced within days. The dissolution honours are mired
in controversy over expectations that a ‘big handful’ of donors will be
rewarded, and a backlash over initial plans for 100 new Tory peers. Since 2010,
thirteen of Cameron’s 83 new Tory lords were donors, who between them have
given some £23million. DAILY MAIL

Boots, Tesco and
Superdrug to get access to NHS medical records

Health officials have drawn up plans to send sensitive data
from GP surgeries to pharmacies across the country, starting this autumn,
without considering the views of patients. NHS England says the scheme will
ease pressures on family doctors, and improve the care given to patients in the
High Street. But campaigners fear major commercial chains will be able to
exploit the valuable data, and use it to push the sales of their products. Officials
have now ordered the national rollout of the scheme, on the basis of an
evaluation of pilots in 140 pharmacies which they say showed “significant
benefits”. But the official report, seen by The Daily Telegraph, shows that the
research garnered responses from just 15 patients – a sample so small that
their views were discarded from the research. The scheme got the green light,
after the pharmacists involved in the pilots gave it their backing. Privacy
campaigners described the revelations as “extraordinary”. They said the scheme
could leave the public exposed to heavy marketing tactics, from firms with
inside information about their health. Phil Booth, from campaign group
medConfidential, said the valuable data would prove “irresistible” to the
commercial firms which could exploit it. “This approach to medical
confidentiality is corroding trust in the NHS,” he said. Summary care records
are held on all NHS patients, unless they specifically opt out. The data from
them will be sent on to all pharmacies, starting this autumn, but pharmacists
have to ask patient’s for “permission to view” the record during any encounter. TELEGRAPH

Shops at airports are facing a consumer revolt over claims
that retailers are asking customers to show boarding cards to legally avoid
paying VAT, but without passing discounts on to customers. The accusation is
that information on boarding cards is being used to claim VAT relief on sales
to travellers leaving the EU. Retailers do not have to pay 20% VAT on goods
sold to customers travelling outside the EU. Customers reported that they were
told by checkout staff that scanning the boarding pass was “the law”, “for a
survey” and “for security.” The revolt comes after Treasury minister David
Gauke said some retailers were not passing on savings to customers. Speaking to
the Independent, he said: “The VAT relief at airports is intended to reduce
prices for travellers, not as a windfall gain for shops. In a email to the
Guardian, customer Sean Fowler, who tried to buy some headphones, said: “After
an ‘it’s not’, ‘it is’ exchange, I left the headphones on the desk and walked
away wondering whether the staff actually believed that it was the law or
whether that was the line they were asked to by management.” Others were
annoyed at being directed to WH Smith’s self-service checkouts where it is
impossible to buy items, including newspapers which are VAT-free, without
scanning a boarding pass. Jonathan Stanton, head of digital retail at Nintendo
and a regular traveller, said he wanted the VAT he had paid in duty-free shops
to be refunded. He said he felt cheated. “It’s unfair if they pocket the
money,” he said. “It’s basically the VAT that we pay and they are pocketing it.” GUARDIAN

Asda has caved in to pressure from dairy farmers and raised
the price it pays its milk supplier, as figures show that sales of fresh milk
in Britain are on course to hit their lowest level by value in eight years. Britain’s
third-largest grocer said it is increasing the supplier price to “a level that
will assist” farmers. Asda will commit to paying 28p per litre for 100% of its
liquid milk volume throughout its entire range. Dairy farmers have accused the
big retailers of squeezing their suppliers, to fuel their price war, to the
extent that dairy farmers are forced to sell at below cost. The retailers blame
a worldwide oversupply of milk, and drop in demand. As a result, farmers have
been protesting by leading their cows through supermarkets, as well as buying
trolley-loads of milk and giving it free to customers along with their protest
message. Morrisons has responded to the debate by launching a new milk brand
called Morrisons Milk For Farmers which will be 10p more expensive per litre,
with the premium returned directly to dairy farmers. This means a four-pint
bottle of the Morrisons Milk For Farmers will cost £1.12, compared with 89p for
Morrisons’ standard own-brand milk. GUARDIAN